


Night Terror

by bratrights



Category: Castlevania (Cartoon), 悪魔城ドラキュラ | Castlevania Series
Genre: Burning, Character Injury / Death In A Dream, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Sharing a Bed, Trauma, they've been through so much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-09 21:55:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17413439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bratrights/pseuds/bratrights
Summary: Alucard has a nightmare, and Trevor comforts him, and it surprises them both to find out how similar their dreams are.





	Night Terror

_The smell assaulted his senses before anything else. Burning wood, and burning flesh, rotten in the darkening sky. It left him gagging, lightheaded from the stench of boiling blood. Next, color, bright yellow and orange in the darkness, a testament to heat. And, underneath, pink and red, the bubbling of scorched skin, bright with pain and blood. It filled his vision until that was all he could see, red and yellow seared into his mind. And then, sound. The thumping of a frantic heart trying to race as many beats in before its last, before it’s consumed by flame. Overshadowed, almost, by the screams. The screams always struck last, leaving a ringing in his ears. Pain, fear, begging for forgiveness, they rose above all else until he was drowning in them._

_But this time, there was not one voice, one heartbeat, but two, intermingling. A symphony of dying. Two crosses, not one, burning side by side, and him, alone in the plaza, watching helplessly._

_His mother burned alone, his friends burned side by side._

_Alucard, frozen in place, could see them, both of them tied as though crucified. Sypha’s speakers robe now more ash than blue. Flames licked freckled arms and fire-orange hair. Tears fell and evaporated off her cheeks, leaving salt to mingle with soot. Blue eyes plead to him wordlessly, voice gone for smoke and screaming, where once was kindness now only twisted pain as the fire burned brighter, higher, until she was swallowed up, burned away to bones._

_Trevor, beside her, still burning, family crest seared away. The fire seemed to caress him, touching every scar, making them shine red with new blood. He could see his jaw clenched against the pain, even as another scream tore through him. Flames engulfed his hands, shoulders, licked up his neck, teasing, taunting, taking its time._

_Another shape, from between the fires, a looming silhouette. He knew that silhouette, as surely as he knew the two burning figures. He came closer, hands spread and dripping blood. He wondered who’s blood, if it was their blood, how much had he hurt them before they burned._

_“Why did you do this?” a tremor in his voice._

_“The humans deserved to die like your mother did.”_

_The fire bit higher, rending another scream from Trevor. It singed scruff and shaggy hair, until only piercing blue eyes remained, stark contrast to the red flame around them. From his mouth came no more sound, but his eyes conveyed their final message, tearstained: how could you let this happen?_

_“For you, my son.”_

_“Alucard!”_

    “Alucard!”

    “No!” He jolted upright, breathless, clutching at his chest. Trevor was beside him, one hand wrapped firmly around his wrist, the other on his shoulder, half holding him. He drew ragged breaths, and realized, after a moment, that he was shaking in the man’s grasp.

    “You were shouting in your sleep.” Trevor said, voice rough with sleep but full of concern. Alucard drew a shaky breath, trying to will himself calmer, but the smell of burning hair still singed his nose, and the sound of screaming still rang in his ears. “Nightmare?”  
  
    “Yes,” He managed to get out after a moment. Trevor looked at him not with pity but with sympathy. Alucard had a hard time looking at him for long, mind filled with the image of him wreathed in flames, accusing eyes burning through him.  
  
    “Would you, I don’t know, like to talk about it?” Trevor offered, and Alucard had to look away, down at the bed they shared.  
  
    “I have already troubled you enough by waking you.” He could not ask more of Trevor, not when he had asked him to stay.  
  
    “Bullshit,” Trevor said with the look of a man who realized he shouldn’t phrase things the way he was just a moment too late. “You’re not troubling me.”  
  
    “That’s…” Alucard started, meeting Trevor’s eyes for the first time, “Very kind of you.” Trevor grumbled, blush rising to his cheeks.  
  
    “Whatever,” He looked away for a moment, but he didn’t let go of Alucard, and for that he was grateful. “I won’t push you, but if you want to talk about it… I’m here.”  
  
    “Thank you,” He said, sincere. They were silent for a moment, Alucard trying to organize his thoughts. He shifted, leaning ever so slightly more towards Trevor and his pseudo-embrace, clasping his hand in favor of Trevor’s grasp on his wrist. Trevor brushed his thumb over the back of his hand, rough calluses unexpectedly soothing. Alucard sighed. “It was… I’ve dreamt of my mother’s burning before but this was…”  
  
    “Oh,” Trevor breathed, full of sympathy and understanding. Alucard closed his eyes.  
  
    “This was different, though. I thought, at first, that it was my mother, but it wasn’t. It was Sypha, and you, burning.” His throat tightened. “You were tied to crosses and burning and I could do _nothing_ \- I can still smell it,” His voice broke and he looked down at their joined hands.  
  
    “Alucard,” Trevor’s voice was uncharacteristically soft, and Alucard swallowed hard.  
  
    “The worst part was that you burned at the hand of my father. He was burning you the way my mother died and I watched you, unable to act or move- I can still hear your screams -”  
  
   “Alucard,” Trevor said, again, gruff but gentle in his own way. “We’re alright. Sypha and I, we’re ok.” Rough fingers traced circles on the back of his hand. “Your father is gone, Alucard, he can’t hurt us.”  
  
   “I know,” He was quiet, eyes downcast, “But you could still burn at the hands of the church, and it…” _It terrifies me_ he wanted to say, _it would be my fault_.  
  
    “We know how to handle ourselves, all three of us.” Trevor said after pausing a moment. “It’s like you said, we were alone before. But we’re not anymore.” His hand on Alucard’s shoulder tightened, a comforting weight.  
  
    It made him wonder how many times Trevor had said that to himself.  
  
    “Togetherness brings its own set of problems, and this life loves to take things away.” He said instead, and felt bad, deep down, for being so contrary, but the hour was late, the world was dark, and he couldn’t seem to shake the image of Trevor and Sypha, skin peeling and blistering away, red and raw.  
  
    “I know, believe me, I fucking understand.” Trevor said, uncharacteristically quiet, and Alucard winced internally. Was it insensitive, rude, self absorbed to bring up the fear of losing people to burning to _him_ of all people? He met Trevor’s eyes again, unsure. There was no anger, just sympathy, an understanding born out of startlingly similar circumstances that brought them together after losing everything else, and a small, wry smile gracing his lips. “This life, it’s shitty. We’ve got to enjoy what we have while it lasts, before life takes it away and throws it into a fucking fire.” Alucard snorted and Trevor’s grin widened. “It fucking sucks, but hey, we have a better chance not getting - literally and metaphorically - burned facing shit together than alone.”  
  
    “I suppose you’re right.” Alucard sighed, slumping against Trevor’s shoulder. Trevor wrapped his arm around his shoulders, and Alucard marveled, privately, at his tenderness, even when life had taken so much from him. “It doesn’t stop me worrying.”  
  
    “Well, I guess worrying is just part of human nature, and you’ve got at least half of that, probably more, so,” he shrugged, a gesture Alucard felt more than saw, “it is to be expected.”  
  
    Alucard hummed thoughtfully. “Do you worry, then?”  
  
    “Oh all the fucking time.” Trevor said, honestly, immediately. The frankness caught Alucard off-guard and he shifted to look at Trevor’s face again. His eyes were averted, looking down at the bed, seemingly surprised or almost ashamed of how readily he admitted that. “I - uh - well let’s just say I’ve had my fair share of nightmares about fire too.” He cleared his throat. “And it’s also not always - my house burning.”  
  
    It was all so similar, too similar. How could they be such different people, live such different lives, and yet experience such startlingly identical things that even their nightmares were the same? He wondered if it really had been a toss up between who would wake the other up shaking from a nightmare filled with fire.  
  
    “But listen,” Trevor started again after a moment of heavy silence, “it’s - the thing is that the nightmares come, and then in the morning I see you and Sypha, and you’re alive and, to be really fucking honest here, the closest thing I’ve had to a family in, god, ten years? And if this is what I get, I’ll take the worrying.” He was so _honest_ , open in the dark. Alucard squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back.  
  
    “May I confess something?” Alucard asked. Trevor looked at him, an incredulous chuckle slipping from him before he caught himself.  
  
    “Sure, I just did.”  
  
    “What you said, that is why I asked you to share my bed with me tonight. So that when the nightmares came I could be immediately reassured you were alive. I had hoped it would save time, rather than me going and checking on you.”  
  
    “You check up on me in the middle of the night?” Trevor asked, openly incredulous now. He squeezed Alucard’s hand, and Alucard squeezed back.  
  
    “Yes,” Alucard said, and hoped that he didn’t come across as sinister. “When the nightmares get too realistic. I cannot rest again until I am assured you and Sypha are safe.”  
  
    “Ah, is it weird to say I’m touched?” Trevor gave a half grin, tightening the arm around Alucard’s shoulders slightly. “And, well, I’m surprised we never caught each other out in the hallways for the same reason.”  
  
    So similar, startlingly similar.  
  
    “I’m surprised we never woke each other.” Alucard huffed a small chuckle. He didn’t know what else to say. Trevor laughed.  
  
    “Are you insinuating that I can’t be quiet when I want to be?”  
  
    “Not outright.” He smiled.  
  
    “I can be, if I need to be because it’s the middle of the fucking night and you’re sleeping.”  
  
    “I suppose you’ll just have to prove it to me then.”  
  
    “Are you trying to get me to leave, or to stay?”  
  
    “Stay.” He said immediately, tightening his grip on Trevor’s hand, and Trevor held him with a small chuckle.  
  
    “I guess I’ll have to stay many nights then, to prove my sneaky quietness isn’t a fluke.” With the arm around his shoulder, Trevor tugged Alucard down gently, and he went, laying down curled up against Trevor’s chest. He could just barely feel the kiss Trevor pressed to the top of his head.  
  
    “I’d like that.”


End file.
